The National Institutes of Health recently selected Bing Ren, associate professor of cellular and molecular medicine at UCSD’s School of Medicine, as one of four grant recipients in its Roadmap’s Epigenomics Program.
The project aims to study stable genetic modifications that affect and alter the behavior of genes across the human genome.
Ren, who also heads the laboratory of gene regulation at UCSD’s Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, will receive the five-year $16.6 million grant to support interdisciplinary work in the San Diego Epigenome Center to comprehensively map elements of the human epigenome, which he describes as ‘like an added dimension to the DNA string.’
Located at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, the epigenome center is one of four centers in the country called Reference Epigemone Mapping Centers and is part of a five-year, $190 million NIH program.
‘The human epigemone is the next frontier of genomic research,’ Ren said in a statement. ‘Just as the Human Genome Project provided a picture of the sequence of genomes, our work will help create a map of the processes that impact gene regulation ‘mdash; what turns genes on and off ‘mdash; in order to improve our understanding of what drives human development and disease.’
By regulating the transcriptional potential of the genome and specifying when and where genes are activated, the epigenome plays a crucial role in cellular differentiation. Certain factors such as diet and exposure to environmental chemicals throughout all stages of human development can cause epigenetic changes that may turn certain genes on or off.
‘Such modifications to the genetic blueprint may provide part of the answer to why some people are most susceptible to disease than others,’ Ren said. ‘Our hope is that understanding how and when epigenetic processes control genes throughout our lives will lead to more effective ways to prevent and treat disease.’